We Love —
- Turn the entire Santa's grotto experience on its head with this snow adventure you’ll enjoy just as much as the children
- Enjoy not one, but two visits to Father Christmas himself! Once in the magical forest, and once when he comes to visit the children on the last night
- Get to meet magical reindeer, huskies and go on a snowmobile safari to discover the Northern Lights
Your Destination —
In the winter it gets exceptionally cold, and temperatures can often drop to -30 Celsius or below, but its frosty weather is what makes Lapland such a magical place to stay for the festive period.
What's Included? —
• Scheduled return flight(s) return from London Heathrow to Ivalo via Helsinki
• All passenger service charges & airport departure taxes
• Pay on board cabin service
• Private group return Airport/Hotel transfers
• 3 nights' accommodation in twin rooms with private WC/Shower at Hotel Korpikartino
• 3 breakfasts, 2 lunches and 3 dinners
• Northern Lights family safari
• Visit to husky kennels and husky safari
• Snowmobile sledge safari with Reindeer Herder to reindeer feeding ground
• Children's letter writing workshop and cookie baking
• Snow fun activities including tobogganing kick sledding, cross country skiing and snow shoeing
• Optional private family sauna
• Private guided family visit to and EXCLUSIVELY a 20 minute audience with Father Christmas
• Small gift from Father Christmas
• Smuggle Father Christmas your own present facility (how this works is you bring a present for your children and we smuggle it to Father Christmas who will hand it over as if by magic he knows what they want)
• Complete set of protective clothing: thermal salopette & jacket or onesie; gloves, mittens, ribbed socks, snow boots, scarf & deer flapped hat for duration of stay.
• Services of local guide
Your Itinerary —
18th December
Fly from London Gatwick on a scheduled flight with Snowbird Airlines to Ivalo in Finnish Lapland. Meet your driver/guide at the airport and transfer to the Hotel Korpikartano, fit and collect your thermal clothing and settle into your room.
Supper in the hotel.
After breakfast, meet Sami Reindeer Herder Petri Mattus from whose farmhouse on the edge of Menesjarvi you'll travel on the back of his snowmobile hay sledge out into the forest to a clearing where he'll unload the hay shouting 'oyyyyyyyaiii... oyyyyy-ayiii' in the rhythmic fashion of a Joik or Sami song poem. Gradually you'll hear what sounds like raindrops falling on canvas which become a clicking sound as the reindeer come closer to feed and with luck right up to the sledge. Take sooty coffee with Petri who'll tell you of his daily life and the lives of Dasher & Dancer, Dunder & Blitzen, Comet & Cupid and Rudolph.
Warm up and buffet lunch in the your hotel. This afternoon your local guide will set you up for tobogganing, snow shoe kick sledding and cross country skiing. They will teach you how to handle each piece of equipment and where you can go in the adjacent forest and on the lake to enjoy the white wilderness at any time during your stay.
In between times children will be invited to a special Elf workshop for tuition in the art of writing a letter to Father Christmas, storytelling and crayoning as well as each family having the chance of having a private sauna.
Early supper in the hotel with a family hunt for the Northern Lights by snowshoe before bedtime.
Set off to meet Tinja Myllyangas known locally as the dog whisperer; Tinja has a special talent with dogs and keeps just 40 or so in her kennels. There are black & white ones, white & black ones, brown & white ones, all sorts: every one with their own name.
After a short handling tuition and with children safely tucked up under a reindeer skin on your other half's lap, set off mushing your own team in the enchanting wilderness of Inari, the spiritual homeland of the Sami people. As the dog's excited barking subsides the only sound is of your sled's runners slicing through the snow and the muted padding of their paws. En route you'll make a pit stop and swap drivers as well as take pictures of the children with their dog team.
During the afternoon make your once in a lifetime private pilgrimage by snowmobile (with children safely tucked up under insulating reindeer hides on a sleigh towed behind your guide) to see Father Christmas in a hut hidden in the woods at a secret location where he stays when he's not in Korvantunturi. As you arrive you'll need to bang loudly on his door if he's sleeping (which he invariably is) but once inside you'll get to know him really well. Whilst waiting your turn to make you journey into the forest the children will be initiated into the art of cookie baking.
Supper of traditional Sami specialities in a Kota close by the hotel during which Father Christmas will visit and dispense small gifts for both grownups and children.
21st December
Breakfast in your hotel before a private group transfer to the airport for your return flight to the UK.
Your Hotel —
It's hard to imagine anywhere or anything as authentically redolent of Sapmi and the Sami people's culture as wife & husband Anne Harju & Timo Halonen's Korpikartano Lodge Hotel in the village of Menesjarvi.
Converted from a primary school that closed in 2005, the Lodge's two separate buildings face each other across what was once the children's playground with one being the 'main' one housing a restaurant, reception and small sitting room.
Check in: 3pm / check out: 12pm
Number of rooms: 28
Free wi-fi
Sauna
BBQ hut
Restaurant
Some services may incur additional charges, payable locally.
Your Room —
This offer is based on a Standard Room.
All rooms have a TV and private bathroom with shower. Guests have access to a shared lounge and terrace with views towards the lake and Lemmenjoki fells.
Your Board Basis —
This offer is based on an full board stay.
Enjoy 3 breakfasts, 2 lunches and 3 dinners at the hotel.
Meals are served buffet style with both lunch and supper having a main course and dessert. The kitchen defines itself as 'Finnish/Lappish' with dishes based on salmon, reindeer, white fish, pike and pork with large use of local berries.
Your Time —
The hotel has two separate log wood decorated saunas where you can enjoy a relaxing sauna experience.
Alternatively, spend an evening by the open fire in the glass roofed Aurora/Midnight Sun hut which is free for use for all guests. Wait silently and if you are lucky you might see the Northern Lights dancing in the sky!
Your Journey —
Flights: Return flights from London Gatwick to Ivalo are included - with Snowbird Airlines.
Outbound
12:00 - 18:45
Inbound
19:30 - 21:05
All flight times are local.
Transfers: Private transfers are included. The transfer time is approximately 1 hr 15 mins.
Please note: flight details are given as a guide only and may change. We will however notify you in advance if flights are more than 2 hours outside the time range given. Flights are non-changeable and non-refundable at time of booking
